Aviation businessman and real estate investor Robert G. Fessler has sold his six-bedroom, 10,000-plus-square-foot Manalapan, FL, home for $31.5 million.
Repped by Pascal Liguori Estate Group, of Premier Estate Properties, on both the buyer and seller side—a company linked to finance couple John and Daria Barry—snapped up the estate at 880 S Ocean Blvd.
When the modern estate dropped from $45 million to $38.5 million in February 2025, co-listing agent Antonio Liguori says the lower price caused a “frenzy” of ultraluxury buyers to descend, resulting in several offers.
The Barrys came out the winners, according to Palm Beach Daily News. John is the chairman and CEO of New York-based investment firm Prospect Capital Management Corp., while wife Daria is head of administration. The couple have five children.
It also helped that the Northeast is suffering through a major cold spell, and those with the means decamped to warmer pastures.
“There’s a lot of ultraluxury people that come into town this time of year,” says Liguori. “We got the right one.”
John and Daria (Becker) Barry are well known philanthropists in the area, heading up a foundation that supports veteran, education, and environmental causes, and funds a full graduate student scholarship to the University of Oxford.
In April 2024, the pair were honored in Palm Beach with a gala dinner for their contributions finding a new prostate cancer treatment, according to Palm Beach Social Diary. The couple own other other properties in Manalapan, according to Palm Beach Daily News.
“They loved the uniqueness,” Liguori tells Realtor.com® of the sale, not confirming that the Barrys are the new owners of 880 S Ocean Blvd. “It’s a really unique setting in the ultraluxury estate section. You walk in the front door, and you’re looking at the ocean.”
There are only about 60 properties in the gated community that stretch from Intracoastal to Atlantic Ocean. The property boasts 150 feet of direct ocean frontage and another 150 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal and comes with a private boat dock.
Manalapan, just south of Palm Beach, is known for having its own police force, offers larger parcels than Palm Beach, and is a magnet for the megarich, including wellness guru Tony Robbins and WeatherTech founder and CEO David F. MacNeil.
Fox News host Sean Hannity recently listed his Manalapan mansion for $45 million, almost double the price he paid for the luxury dwelling just over one year ago.
Special features of the estate
Liguori says that although the modern estate was built in 1988, the new owners have no solidified plans to tear it down or do a major renovation.
Beyond the setting and the price, Liguori says the house itself sealed the deal.
“[The buyers] liked the fact that it had this incredible unique architecture that you don’t find anymore,” he says.
The home was designed by Singer Architecture, which also designs museums, and it could pass for a museum with its art-clad walls and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Another striking feature of the abode is that it is clad throughout in Coquina, a type of all natural stone harvested outside of the U.S., and that works particularly well to ward off the degrading effects of salt spray, says Liguori.
“[The stone] is really good for durability,” says the agent says.
As for why Fessler wanted to unload the mansion after owning it for quarter of a century, Liguori says, “He was just ready for a downsize, a simplification.”
The wealth manager’s wife, Daphne, died in January 2024, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. The couple had paid $5.3 million for the estate in 2000, according to property records.
The couple had completed several renovation projects on the estate, including adding the 4,000-square-foot, two-bedroom guesthouse that overlooks the ocean, another feature that attracted the new owners.
Fessler previously sold 1110 South Ocean Boulevard, a spec mansion built on a parcel formerly part of the historic Harold S. Vanderbilt estate for $15 million.
“Manalapan is on fire,” asserts Liguori. “It goes in cycles, but it’s definitely one of the most sought-after places. It doesn’t get any more ritzy or pricey. Manalapan and Palm Beach are the destination, marquee-markets in South Florida.”
